


An Exercise in Scaring your Partner

by demonchild026



Series: Merlin fics [6]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Arthur Knows About Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Canon Era, Caring Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Comfort, Court Sorcerer Merlin (Merlin), Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Merlin is an idiot, Protective Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Sick Merlin (Merlin), Sickfic, Sleepy Cuddles, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:47:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24858625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonchild026/pseuds/demonchild026
Summary: Despite being Gaius' apprentice for years, Merlin has never heard of the concept of 'taking care of himself'. A cough is fine, right? Even when every time you get a cough you also get a bad fever?Seems fine to him.
Relationships: Gaius & Merlin (Merlin), Gwen & Merlin (Merlin), Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: Merlin fics [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1489961
Comments: 12
Kudos: 521





	An Exercise in Scaring your Partner

Merlin wriggled around in Arthur’s arms, not making any effort at all to be subtle about it.

“Arthur, being able to move is nice,” Merlin said as Arthur wrapped his arms even tighter around Merlin’s stomach. There was a grumble, but no reply. “Come on, we should both be up by now.”

“I’m the King.”

Merlin smiled. “That can’t be your excuse for everything, you know.”

“Sure it can. I’m the king.”

Merlin wriggled harder, even resorting to attempting to pull Arthur’s arms away. Not that that was a very good option, Merlin was built like a twig and Arthur was a knight. No competition.

“Let me gooooo!”

“No. I have captured you; you can’t escape.”

“What if I use my magic?”

“That’s called cheating, Merlin.”

“I’m not above cheating.”

Arthur finally opened his eyes and lifted his head from the pillow. “Oh, I know that, don’t worry. It’s the only reason you win anything when we are at the tavern.”

Merlin gasped dramatically. “You accuse me of cheating you of your _money_? Theft? Me??”

Arthur groaned and finally let go of Merlin, not bothering to reply to him. They got up and dressed, Merlin quickly heading out to acquire breakfast (the stubborn bastard refused to let anyone else do it, no matter that he wasn’t a servant anymore) while Arthur started on the ever-growing pile of paperwork. He had more due to arrive from the council in a few hours.

Merlin quickly returned, a full tray of food in hand. Well, almost full. There was a clear bite mark in a strawberry.

Arthur looked at him and lifted an eyebrow, staring accusingly as Merlin placed the tray down and pulled the other chair over so they could both eat. He coughed into his elbow as he sat down, a deep cough.

“Are you coming down with something?” Arthur asked.

“No, just something stuck in my throat.”

Arthur said nothing, just looked at the half-eaten strawberry then back at Merlin accusingly.

After breakfast, they went about their day. Arthur got through a fair chunk of the paperwork then had to go off to the pesky council meeting, while Merlin sat in the area of the chamber that had recently been attacked by Merlin. It had a small table and a shelf, covered in paper, books, herbs, half-finished potions, a million empty ink bottles. Arthur was always begging Merlin to clean it or let someone else clean it, but there was always some excuse. _But then I won’t be able to find anything! It’s fine how it is!_ It certainly explains why he was such a bad servant.

Right now, there was a foul looking potion brewing on top of a small flame, bubbling suspiciously. Arthur walked over to the table, careful not to get too close.  
  


“Any chance when I come back the castle won’t be burnt down?” he asked, noticing all the scattered paper in scarily close proximity to the flame.

“It’s a magical flame Arthur, it’ll burn what I want it to and nothing more.”

“That doesn’t answer my question, you know.”

“Well, if the castle does burn down, you’ll know I wanted it to.”

That did not fill him with confidence. Nevertheless, he said goodbye and headed off to the council meeting.

______________  
  


Merlin wanted to bang his head against the wall.

Nothing seemed to be working – the potion was supposed to turn blue, certainly not red. He had added all the ingredients in the right order, exactly like the book said to. He used the magical flame, he heated it until it was simmering but not boiling, he added the right amount of the weird purple root, he instantaneously cooled it down with magic.

It. Should. Be. Blue.

He grumbled and rested his head against the wood of the table. He had a headache; he did not need this right now. Maybe that’s what it was. Yes, let's blame that.

Merlin moved a stack of papers, just throwing them onto another before dragging a third over to the middle of the table. Paperwork was something he definitely missed the lack of. When he was a servant he ended up doing a lot of Arthur’s for him, but now that it was _his_ paperwork? That he _had_ to do? Not appealing. Not that Arthur’s had been either, but that’s not the point.

Giving up before he had even started, Merlin got up and headed out the door. Time to go visit Gaius, see if he had any idea why the potion hated him today. Then he would probably have to go talk to Iseldir, work out how to convince some of the druids that they really were safe in Camelot. It had only been a few months since the new laws around magic, he didn’t blame them for being cautious.

When Merlin reached Gaius’ chambers, he opened the door and poked his head in. “Hello?”

Gaius turned around. “Merlin! What problems do you bring to my doorstep today?”

“I don’t always bring problems!”

Gaius just lifted his eyebrow, giving Merlin The LookTM. “Ok then, have you come just to see me?”

“Yes?” Merlin said, or rather, asked. “Fine, I messed up the potion.”

Gaius sighed, got up from his chair. “Come on, let’s take a look at the mess you made this time.”

When they returned the potions was bubbling over. Merlin gave a squeak, quickly ran over to it and removed the stacks of papers from the reach of the oozing red liquid. “There isn’t even a flame! Why does this hate me??”

Gaius gazed down to the remaining root that lay on the table. “How much of that did you use?”

“Uhhh, half the root you gave me?”

Gaius sighed. “There’s your problem. It was supposed to be half a spoonful of it, powdered.”

Merlin frowned. He opened his mouth, closed it again. “I remembered to powder it at least?”

“I give up. Did you want to bother me with anything else?”

“Maybe I actually did want to visit you,” Merlin said, not very confidently.

Gaius just laughed. “All right then. Well, make sure you clean all of that up before Arthur get back, and maybe clean the mess of paper too.”

Merlin groaned. “Not you too, it’s perfectly fi-“

Merlin started coughing, this time a little more violently than before. Gaius frowned. “Do you want me to make you something for that?”

“No, no,” Merlin said, shaking his head, “I’m fine.”

Gaius looked sceptical but didn’t question it.

Arthur wanted to stab someone. Was he allowed to do that? He was the King, after all.

“They can’t be trusted sire, who knows what they would choose to do?”

“For the last time, there is no way that using magic for household purposes needs such drastic measures of policing,” Arthur said.

“Of course, Sire, but what if – “

Arthur groaned. “Stop. Listen to me – we are not going to restrict magic to what is practically no magic. We are not even going to talk about this now, bring it up next time Merlin is here.”

“But Sire – “

“Meeting adjourned.”

By the time all of the council members had left, and Arthur had walked back to Merlin and his shared chambers, Merlin was gone. Assumedly off to talk with Iseldir, as he said he would have to. Arthur decided to take the opportunity to get some practice in.

Arthur walked over to the training field, passing by Gwen. She hurried over to him.

“Arthur, do you know where Merlin is? Iseldir is looking for him, none of us can find him.”

Arthur frowned. “What? I thought he was with Iseldir.”

“He’s supposed to be.”

“Have you asked Gaius?”

“He saw him an hour before, but he was in your chambers, apparently messing up a potion. He said he headed off to see Iseldir when Gaius left to go back to his chambers.”

Arthur suddenly had a bad feeling. “I’ll take a look around. He can’t be far.”

Arthur searched the halls, recruiting a couple of servants as he passed them. It wasn’t long before he spotted a slim body, laying face down on the floor.

“Merlin!” Arthur ran over to him, immediately kneeling next to him, feeling his head. It was far too warm. “Damn you Merlin, you liar. You were an apprentice to Gaius for years, you should know how to take care of yourself!”

He picked up the poor excuse of a warlock and carried him to their chambers, only stopping to send a servant to grab Gaius and inform Gwen. It wasn’t very far and in under five minutes, Merlin was laying on the sheets, face slightly pale, skin burning hot.

Arthur was panicking – he didn’t know how to take care of sick people. He could clean and bandage up a wound, he could even set a broken bone, but this was something he had no idea about. He paced around the room, then knelt to the side of the bed, running his hands through Merlin’s hair.

“Damn it, Merlin, why didn’t you say anything?”

Merlin didn’t reply, didn’t move. Arthur sighed, unsure of what to do.

The door opened, Gwen and Gaius running in. Arthur stood up, gave Gaius the space he would need. Gwen closed the door quietly, as though the sound would bother Merlin, who at first sight just looked like he was sleeping.

Gaius spoke up. “He has a bad fever; we need to bring it down.”

Arthur nodded, not trusting himself enough to speak. He should have realised Merlin was sick, it should not have gotten this bad. Wait, how did it get this bad?

A few moments later and Arthur was holding a damp cloth to Merlin’s head, staring at the pale face as Gwen ran back to Gaius’ chambers to retrieve medicines.

“How could it have gotten like this, he was only coughing this morning,” Arthur whispered, mostly talking to himself.

Gaius sighed. “Merlin has always been particularly susceptible to fevers, especially during the winter. His mother told me they always came with little to no warning. You couldn’t have known.”

It did nothing to make Arthur feel better. He said nothing, just sat where he was on the edge of the bed, right next to Merlin.

When Merlin woke up everything was a little blurry and there was a pressure in his head that made him want to cry.

He moved a little, giving an involuntary, pained moan when his aching muscles protested. Arthur immediately jumped up at the sound.

“Shhh, it’s ok,” Arthur said, grabbing the glass of water from the bedside table lifting Merlin so he could drink it. Merlin drank as though it was the first time he had ever seen water in his life. Arthur gave a little chuckle at the sight. Once the cup was empty, he placed it back down on the table and shifted closer to Merlin. At Arthur’s touch, Merlin moved closer, so Arthur went under the covers, pulling him into an embrace. “You know, you told me you were fine.”

“Srry,” Merlin mumbled, his eyes still closed. “Head hrts.”

Arthur looked at him, face still dangerously pale, skin clammy and hot. He was like a furnace. “Shh, it's ok. Go back to sleep, you’ll feel better when you wake.”

**Author's Note:**

> Here I am, posting a fic I have not read over yet, at 2 in the morning. Also, I know I’ve been ignoring my other fic, I’ll get to it eventually.


End file.
